A metro man has come forward after a video of him destroying a slot machine at a casino in Shawnee went viral. George Smith said he took his anger out on the machine when he said it malfunctioned after he hit a big jackpot, leaving him with nothing.
The casino patron said he went from the high of thinking he won a jackpot to hitting a low when he lost the winnings in only minutes. Smith said after going into a rage, he woke up strapped to a hospital bed.
People in the video circulating on social media could be heard yelling “Give him his money back.” The video was shot as Smith was beating on a slot machine inside Grand Casino in Shawnee last weekend. Moments before, Smith thought he was going home rich.
“I was just thinking like me, my kids, my family,” he said. “We gonna be straight.”
Smith claimed the jackpot rose over half a million dollars.
“It got up to like $600,000 and the machine just shut down,” said Smith. “Everybody was like ‘Oh that’s messed up.’”
Smith said the machine went black and he was told by casino staff the machine malfunctioned.
“I asked her what did that mean and she was like that means you’re not going to get paid,” said Smith. “I was like why? Because the machine shut down into a malfunction.”
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation would not comment about the alleged jackpot or machine malfunction but did send News 9 a statement. According to Kent Bush, CPN Public Information Director, “We can’t comment on this matter because there is an open criminal investigation into the behavior seen in videos that have been posted online.”
Smith is currently in a metro Integris hospital with internal injuries he said stemmed from the incident.
“Throwing my body into the machine and all that stuff, I caused a lot of muscle and tissue damage to my kidneys and stuff,” said Smith.
Smith told News 9 he was not aware he would be facing criminal charges but did know he has been banned from the Grand Casino for life.
The Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s tribal police are investigating the matter.
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